30 Day Next Steps

Day 6: Responding to God

Suppose you are walking in a dense forest, and you stray off the path and lose your way. Night falls and it becomes dark and cold. You’re without food or water. You frantically stumble ahead in the darkness, with no sense of direction. Fear gnaws at you: “I may never make it back to safety.”

Then your anxious eyes see a light in the distance. You realize: Someone is searching for me! The light is coming your way. You call out, “Here I am!” The reply comes back: “Keep calling!” Moments later your rescuer appears — a forest ranger who knows the deep woods and the way home. Steadily he leads you back. As the ranger delivers you to your doorstep, he says, “You’re safe now.” You study his kind and fatherly face. In sheer relief you respond in the only way you can — with profound gratitude. “How can I ever repay you?” you ask, knowing no payment could ever suffice.

In that same way, our heavenly Father rescued us. Our condition was even more desperate than we could have imagined. There was no way to make it on our own. Then He came and personally guided us home, redeeming us from deadly peril.

Our only reasonable response is to love Him in return — with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. In fact, a central message of the Bible is that we were made for one great purpose: to receive and return God’s love. It’s a two-way street!